King gets national Jaycees award

Last year’s president of the Cheboygan Junior Chamber (Jaycees) has been bestowed one of the highest national honors recently.

By Richard Croftonrichard@cheboygantribune.com

Last year’s president of the Cheboygan Junior Chamber (Jaycees) has been bestowed one of the highest national honors recently.Nate King has received the Presidential Medallion from the 2012 U.S. Jaycees president.“He was recognized as the chapter president and for his hard work,” said last year’s Michigan Jaycees President Sarah Nelson. “There were five total given in the state of Michigan and only one at the local chapter level.”The award was given at the annual Jaycees convention in Seattle.Nelson said this is a big honor for someone at the local level to receive such a distinction.“Out of the five in the state awarded, three of those people had served on the U.S. Jaycees board,” she said. “He was recognized for his hard work and it shows he really is among the best of the best. I am proud he got this recognition.”She said each state president makes nominations to the national president, but it is the prerogative of the national president as to who actually is honored.When King took over the reins of the local chapter, it was a chapter that was almost extinct.“We’re not able to attend many events because we are geographically challenged,” he said of state events being held hundreds of miles away. “It is amazing how quickly our chapter turned around. Before I became president, there were four or five years where no one went to the state convention and we were on probation.”King said community involvement also didn’t exist.“I found a couple magnet members and changed the way we did things,” he said. “When I took over, we were left with nothing, so I took my marketing background and got us out there.”The Cheboygan Area Chamber of Commerce employee gave up a lot of his free time last year as president, but it paid off.Not only did he receive the Presidential Medallion, but he also was awarded the state presidential medallion, the Martin P. Luthy Award and the David Lichwala chapter president award.“I was shocked when I got the state stuff,” King said. “When I was notified about the national award, first I was upset that I wasn’t there and then disbelief. I don’t do things for accolades, but then the weight of it all hit me.”He said young people should realize the Jaycees is not just putting on events, and hard work can be recognized.“I hope that my achievement of this honor inspires more young men and women in our community to become more involved in volunteerism and community building,” King said. “Volunteerism does pay off.”